Building the model program

The words SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED bring out different emotions in different people.

For the Savannah State football program and coach Bill Davis, it just depends on the context.

"I never bought a toy or bicycle for my kids unless the salesman could give me one already put together," Davis says. "I could never put those things together."

But a Division I-AA football program isn't a toy. And Davis can assemble one without an instruction sheet. He knows schools which have built model programs. In fact, one is just an hour inland via Interstate 16.

"Georgia Southern is the kind of program everybody would like to model theirs after," Davis says. "I know that's the kind of program I'd like to have here. They're like Florida State or Nebraska. The program itself is enough to recruit players and fans."

Unfair Comparison

Savannah State, like most aspiring football programs, would like to model itself after Georgia Southern. Resources of the two programs differ greatly, however, putting SSU at a big disadvantage.

Davis admits he can't follow GSU's model. SSU's situation differs too much from that of its Coastal Empire neighbor, both in terms of background and logistics.

Georgia Southern's program is just 20 years old and has enjoyed success both competitively and financially from the start. The school's student enrollment and alumni base dwarf that of SSU.

Savannah State begins its 86th season of football tonight at Georgia Southern. But aside from a five-year span during Davis' first tenure at the school, Savannah State has seen limited success. And SSU has yet to build a fund-raising base.

GSU's model worked -- to the tune of six national titles in 15 years. SSU's Davis knows he can't copy that success, but he hopes to emulate it.

The GSU model

Twenty years ago, Georgia Southern's football team was nothing more than 126 students drawn to the practice field by the aura of longtime Georgia defensive coordinator Erk Russell.

GSU reestablished its football program in 1981, 40 years after World War II led to its discontinuation. The Eagles didn't play any official games that first season, just three exhibition games against junior varsity and club teams.

A little more than four years later, they won their first national championship. GSU won a second in 1986 and two more before the program's 10-year anniversary.

So good. So fast. The page in the Georgia Southern media guide describing the history of GSU football says success just happened.

No one planned on Russell leaving Georgia in the months following a national championship season to build a program from scratch, it says. No one planned on Tracy Ham becoming one of college football's most prolific quarterbacks, it says.

True, but GSU's success was no accident. Russell's reputation and personality attracted financial supporters and quality players alike. School president Dale Lick, the force behind football's return to the school, hired Bucky Wagner as athletic director in 1981.

"The time was right for Georgia Southern to start football," says Russell, who retired following the 1989 season and still lives in Statesboro. "Our student body began to increase pretty quickly, and an increased student body brings a lot of economic opportunities to our community. We had quite a few people who wanted football and were willing to give."

Eagle backers earned a quick return on that investment. Russell's group of walk-ons went 7-3-1 in their first season and 6-5 in 1983. Quarterbacking that 1983 team was freshman Tracy Ham. Two years later, with his first senior class of recruited players and a well-seasoned Ham under center, Russell guided GSU to its first national title.

"I attribute the success we might have had to having good players," Russell says. "How we got some of them, I don't know, but we had good players. We had good players who played good together. And we had a lot of luck."

Not to mention a few lucky traditions. Russell inspired his team by taking water from "Beautiful Eagle Creek" -- an old drainage ditch that runs past the GSU practice fields -- and sprinkling it in the end zones before key games. The creek was a symbol of making the best of everything you have, and Russell turned the "gnat-and-mosquito-infested ditch" into something to be proud of.

"Traditions may be little things, but the little things are what make the big things work," Russell says.

And as the big things worked at Georgia Southern, fan and financial support has grown. Today, nearly a quarter of GSU's athletic expenses -- approximately $1.5 million -- go to the football program.

"The one thing that we've always had is good community support," says Georgia Southern coach Paul Johnson, who was Russell's offensive coordinator in the early days of Eagle football. "That support and the administration's has allowed this program to grow."

Success has grown the program's reputation, which allows the Eagle coaches to recruit the types of athletes who could play at bigger, Division I-A schools if they wished. The "skills and techniques" of GSU's players, says SSU senior linebacker Jamaal Zanders, are tremendous.

As complicated as GSU's blueprint for success appears, SSU's Davis says it is really quite simple.

"They made a commitment 20 years ago, and for anything to be successful, you have to be committed to it," he said. "You can have all the vision you want, but you have to have a commitment to get it started. And once you get it started, it grows from there."

SSU's piece-by-piece approach

Savannah State president Carlton Brown has a vision for SSU's football and other athletic programs. And in 1999, he made a commitment, petitioning the NCAA for Division I status.

That commitment has yet to be fully realized. Last month, the NCAA delayed SSU's Division I membership by at least a year, asking the school to add a handful of sports programs to meet NCAA guidelines.

And while athletic director Hank Ford works to meet those demands, Davis is busy building his football program. The Tigers have the foundation, Davis says. The coaching staff is stable and of high quality. Davis is pleased with the players in his first recruiting class.

The freshmen and junior college transfers have worked hard in the preseason and displayed what Davis calls a winning attitude. They complement the Tiger veterans well.

But SSU's model is still a Model-T. Davis does not yet have the necessary resources to field a playoff-caliber Division I-AA team.

The Tigers' biggest shortcoming is in their scholarship budget. Division I-AA teams can award a maximum of 63 scholarships and can spread those among 85 student-athletes. To fully fund scholarships for SSU's program would require approximately $500,000.

The Tigers' budget is closer to $150,000 -- enough for around 25 full scholarships. Of the 78 players on SSU's roster this year, less than 40 receive financial aid via football scholarships.

"We're not anywhere near the set maximums," Davis says. "We don't need 80 kids on scholarship, but we need to get up in the 50s. Without scholarships, it's hard to compete for kids in off-season recruiting. That's what I'm focusing on.

"Without the horses, you can't get into the race."

To increase his scholarship budget, Davis must find financial supporters. SSU is a state school and therefore cannot use tuition or taxpayer money to fund its athletic programs.

That makes Davis and others in the SSU athletic department as much fund-raisers as coaches or administrators.

With his engaging personality, Davis is a natural. He speaks at as many public functions as possible, reads to children in the schools and never shies away from an opportunity to promote his program.

But as Georgia Southern demonstrates, fan and administration support is paramount to success. And Davis knows Savannah State must set a precedent before it can imitate GSU's model of success.

"We need to start winning. That's the best way to build a program," Davis says. "We're headed in the right direction, but people only look at what you did last year.

"Georgia Southern had people behind them from the start. They had a commitment, and they won. We have to win first here."

Sports reporter Adam Van Brimmer can be reached at 652-0347 or e-mailed at vbrimmer@savannahnow.com.

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